Tri-knit comfort fabric and methods for preparing and using the fabric

ABSTRACT

A tri-knit comfort fabric and a preparation method and application thereof. The preparation method includes steps of knitting a raw material with a three-thread yarn feeder to obtain a primary fabric, performing a greige fabric stenter finishing process on the knitted primary fabric, dying the primary fabric, then dewatering, treating through a flat-width fabric dryer and performing the stenter finishing process to the dyed fabric to obtain the tri-knit comfort fabric. The preparation method improves the wearing comfort and moisture wicking function of the three-thread fabric, and the fabric prepared by the three-thread knitting method of adding the polyester component can be iron-free after washing. In addition, its moisture wicking, quick drying, water permeability, breathability and antistatic properties are also very good. It can also be separately added with independent functions such as thermal insulating, ice-feeling, anti-UV, antibacterial, anti-mildew and anti-mite. The process is simple, convenient for mass production.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of the Chinese Patent ApplicationCN201811243964.3 filed Oct. 24, 2018, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of textiles, in particular, to acomfort fabric and a preparation method and application thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many kinds of functional fabric knitted from two threads,i.e., Spandex and Polyester, on the market. The defects of thetwo-thread knitting method are mainly that the two sides of the fabrichave the same composition and limited to single function. The fabricknitted from three threads, i.e., the bottom yarn and the elastic fiber,is relatively rare. The advantages of the three-thread knitting methodcompared with the two-thread knitting method are mainly that the twosides of the fabric have different components and different functions,which can serve different needs. For example, in three-thread knittingmethod, Polyester is a long-staple fiber, but the fabric knittedtherefrom is less hygroscopic. If it is worn in summer, there will be amore obvious sultry feeling, and sweating will irritate the skin, whichaffects the wearing comfort of the fabric. Knitting fabrics withthree-thread knitting method requires larger knitting works, and sincethe yarn feed count is halved, the capacity is less than half. Inaddition, three-thread fabrics need different dyestuffs to dye.Different component of the fabric and may easier resulting in colorshading. Traditional three-thread knitting method is cumbersome insteps, complicated in process flow, and cost more human and materialresources.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of this invention is to provide a preparation method oftri-knit comfort fabric

The preparation method of tri-knit comfort fabric in this inventioncomprises steps of: S101: Knitting a raw material with a three-threadyarn feeder to obtain a greige fabric containing three types of yarns:top layer yarn, intermediate layer yarn and bottom layer yarn; S102:performing a stenter finishing process on the primary fabric knitted inS101 at a first predetermined temperature; S103: dyeing the primaryfabric treated in S102, then dewatering and dried through a flat-widthfabric dryer S104: using stenter to finish the primary fabric treated inS103 at a second predetermined temperature to obtain a finished productof tri-knit comfort fabric.

The preparation method of the tri-knit comfort fabric of this inventionadopts the three-thread knitting method. Compared with two-threadfabrics e.g. Spandex and Polyester, in this method, the polyestercomponent can be reduced, increasing new composition like Modal fiber,which itself has good softness and excellent hygroscopicity. Therefore,the wearing comfort and moisture wicking function of the tri-knit fabricare improved, and the fabric prepared by the tri-knit method of addingthe polyester component may be iron-free after washing. In addition, itsmoisture wicking, quick drying, water permeability, breathability andantistatic properties are also very good. It can also be separatelyadded with independent functions such as thermal insulating,ice-feeling, anti-UV, antibacterial, anti-mildew and anti-mite. Further,for the preparation method of the tri-knit comfort fabric of thisinvention, the process is simple, convenient for mass production, maysave a lot of human and material resources, and has a good businessprospect.

Moreover, above preparation method of the tri-knit comfort fabric ofthis invention may also have the following additional technicalfeatures:

Further, in the step S101, at least one of the three yarns is a blendedyarn, and the blended yarn is at least two of polyester fiber, syntheticfiber and natural fiber; the other two of the three yarns are at leastone of elastic fibers, polyester fibers, synthetic fibers, and naturalfibers.

Further, the top layer yarn has a density number of 30 cm to 37 cm, theintermediate layer yarn has a density number of 8 cm to 12 cm, and thebottom layer yarn has a density number of 29 cm to 36 cm. Among them,the density number is a yarn length density of 100 G number of stitches.

Further, in the step S102, the speed upon greige fabric stenterfinishing is 20 yards to 25 yards.

Further, in the step S104, the speed upon stenter finishing is 18 yardsto 22 yards.

Further, in the step S102, the first predetermined temperature is 190°C.˜200° C.

Further, in the step S104, the second predetermined temperature is 145°C.˜155° C.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a tri-knit comfortfabric prepared by the method described.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an application ofthe tri-knit comfort fabric described in the field of clothing and hometextiles.

The additional aspects and advantages of this invention will be setforth in below description, in which parts will be clarified from thedescription below, or from the practice of this invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE

The following detailed descriptions, given by way of example, and notintended to limit this invention solely thereto, will be best beunderstood in conjunction with the accompanying figure:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart demonstrating the method for preparing tri-knitcomfort fabric in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the claimedinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below,which are intended to be illustrative of this invention and are not tobe construed as limiting.

Embodiment 1

Embodiment 1 provides a tri-knit comfort, fabric adopting knitting bythree threads to obtain a primary fabric containing three types ofyarns: top layer yarn, intermediate layer yarn and bottom layer yarn,wherein the top layer yarn includes a wool having a compositionpercentage of 53%, the bottom is a Polyester with a compositionpercentage of 37% and a Modal fiber with a percentage of 6%, and theintermediate layer yarn is a Spandex with a composition percentage of4%. Further, the top layer yarn has a density number of 37 cm, theintermediate layer yarn has a density number of 12 cm, and the bottomlayer yarn has a density number of 36 cm.

Referring to FIG. 1, the preparation method comprises the followingsteps:

(1) first, knitting a greige fabric with a three-thread yarn feeder toobtain a primary fabric containing a top layer yarn, an intermediatelayer yarn and a bottom layer yarn.

(2) performing a greige fabric stenter finishing process on the primaryfabric knitted by the step (1) at a machine speed of 20 yards under 200°C.

(3) dyeing the primary fabric treated in the step (2), then dewateringand treating through a flat-width fabric dryer.

(4) performing stenter finishing to the dyed fabric treated in the step(3) under a temperature of 155° C. at a machine speed of 18 yards toobtain a finished product of tri-knit comfort fabric.

Embodiment 2

Embodiment 2 provides a tri-knit comfort fabric adopting knitting bythree threads to obtain a primary fabric containing three types ofyarns: top layer yarn, intermediate layer yarn and bottom layer yarn,wherein the top layer yarn includes nylon having a compositionpercentage of 39%, the bottom layer yarn is acrylic fiber with acomposition percentage of 40% and cotton fiber with a percentage of 18%,and the intermediate layer yarn is a Spandex with a compositionpercentage of 3%. Further, the top layer yarn has a density number of 30cm, the intermediate layer yarn has a density number of 8 cm, and thebottom layer yarn has a density number of 29 cm.

The preparation method comprises the following steps:

(1) first, knitting a greige fabric with a three-thread yarn feeder toobtain a primary fabric containing a top layer yarn, an intermediatelayer yarn and a bottom layer yarn.

(2) performing a greige fabric stenter finishing process on the primaryfabric knitted by the step (1) at a machine speed of 25 yards under 190°C.

(3) dyeing the primary fabric treated in the step (2), then dewateringand treating through a flat-width fabric dryer.

(4) performing stenter finishing to the dyed fabric treated in the step(3) under a temperature of 145° C. at a machine speed of 22 yards toobtain a finished product of tri-knit comfort fabric.

Embodiment 3

Embodiment 3 provides a tri-knit comfort fabric, adopting knitting bythree threads to obtain a primary fabric containing three types ofyarns: top layer yarn, intermediate layer yarn and bottom layer yarn,wherein the top layer yarn includes Polyester having a compositionpercentage of 86%, the bottom layer yarn composition is 9% Modal fiber,and the intermediate layer yarn composition is 5% Spandex. Further, thetop layer yarn has a density number of 33 cm, the intermediate layeryarn has a density number of 10 cm, and the bottom layer yarn has adensity number of 33 cm.

The preparation method comprises the following steps:

(1) first, knitting a greige fabric with a three-thread yarn feeder toobtain a primary fabric containing a top layer yarn, an intermediatelayer yarn and a bottom layer yarn.

(2) performing a greige fabric stenter finishing process on the primaryfabric knitted by the step (1) at a machine speed of 22 yards under 195°C.

(3) dyeing the primary fabric treated in the step (2), then dewateringand treating through a flat-width fabric dryer.

(4) performing stenter finishing to the dyed fabric treated in the step(3) under a temperature of 150° C. at a machine speed of 20 yards toobtain a finished product of tri-knit comfort fabric.

The wet thermal resistance of three samples of the tri-knit comfortfabric having a thickness of not more than 5 mm prepared from 3Embodiments is tested under a temperature of (35±0.1) ° C. and ahumidity of (40±3) %, and the results are shown in Table 1:

TABLE 1 Wet thermal resistance of tri-knit comfort fabric samples ineach of the embodiments Wet thermal resistance (Ret/(m2 · Pa)/W) Firstsample 1.99 Second sample 1.74 Third sample 1.77 Arithmetic mean 1.83

As can be seen from Table 1, the mean of the wet thermal resistance ofthe tri-knit comfort fabric prepared by the preparation method of thoseembodiment of this invention reaches 1.83 (m2·Pa)/W, which indicatesthat the tri-knit comfort fabric prepared by the method of thisinvention has good functions of moisture wicking.

In summary, the preparation method of the tri-knit comfort fabric ofthis invention adopts the three-thread knitting method. Compared withtwo-thread fabrics Spandex and Polyester, in this method, the polyestercomponent is reduced, increasing the composition of Modal, acrylic andcotton fibers, so that it has good softness and excellenthygroscopicity. Therefore, the wearing comfort and moisture wickingfunction of the three- thread fabric are improved, and the fabricsprepared by the three-thread knitting method of adding the polyestercomponent may be iron-free after washing. In addition, its moisturewicking, quick drying, water permeability, breathability and antistaticproperties are also very good. It can also be separately added withindependent functions such as thermal insulating, ice-feeling, anti-UV,antibacterial, anti-mildew and anti-mite. For the preparation method ofthe tri-knit comfort fabric of this invention, the process is simple,convenient for mass production, may save a lot of human and materialresources, and has a good business prospect.

In the description of the present specification, a description withreference to the terms “one embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “example”,“specific example”, or “some examples” and the like means that specificfeatures, structures, materials, or characteristics described inconnection with the embodiments or examples are included in at least oneembodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification,the schematic representation of the above terms is not necessarilydirected to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specificfeatures, structures, materials, or characteristics described may becombined in a suitable manner in any one or more embodiments orexamples. In addition, various embodiments or examples described in thespecification, as well as features of various embodiments or examples,may be combined and assembled without contradictions.

Although the embodiment of this invention has been shown and describedabove, it is to be understood that the above embodiments areillustrative and are not to be construed as limiting this invention.Changes, modifications, alterations and variations of theabove-described embodiments may be made by those skilled in the fieldwithin the scope of this invention.

1. A method for preparing a tri-knit comfort fabric, comprising stepsof: a) knitting a raw material with a three-thread yarn feeder to obtaina primary fabric containing three types of yarns: top layer yarn,intermediate layer yarn and bottom layer yarn; b) performing a greigefabric sternter finishing process on the primary fabric knitted in stepa) at a first predetermined temperature; c) dyeing the primary fabrictreated in step b), then dewatering and treating through a flat-widthfabric dryer; and d) performing a stenter finishing process to theprimary fabric treated in step c) at a second predetermined temperatureto obtain a finished product of tri-knit comfort fabric.
 2. The methodin claim 1, wherein in step a): at least one of the three yarns is ablended yarn; the blended yarn is at least two of polyester fiber,synthetic fiber and natural fiber; and other two of the three yarns areat least one of elastic fibers, polyester fibers, synthetic fibers, andnatural fibers.
 3. The method in claim 1, wherein: the top layer yarnhas a density number of 30 cm to 37 cm; the intermediate layer yarn hasa density number of 8 cm to 12 cm; and the bottom layer yarn has adensity number of 29 cm to 36 cm.
 4. The method in claim 1, wherein instep b), a speed upon greige fabric stenter finishing is 20 yards to 25yards.
 5. The method in claim 1, wherein in step d), a speed upon dyedfabric stenter finishing is 18 yards to 22 yards.
 6. The method in claim1, wherein in step b), the first predetermined temperature is 190°C.-200° C.
 7. The method in claim 1, wherein in step d), the secondpredetermined temperature is 145° C.-155° C.
 8. A tri-knit comfortfabric prepared by the method in claim
 1. 9. A method for using forclothing and home textiles, the tri-knit comfort fabric prepared by themethod in claim 1.